South Africa vs. England, 3rd ODI: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

England have a chance to seal the five-match one-day international series with two games to spare when they take on South Africa in Centurion on Tuesday.

Date: Tuesday, 9 February

Time: 1:30 p.m. local, 11:30 a.m. GMT

Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion

Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK) and SuperSport (South Africa)

Weather: There is always a risk of a thunderstorm on the Highveld this time of year and Tuesday will be no different, according to AccuWeather.com. It should not be so bad that it forces the fixture to be abandoned, though, but it might require some clever thinking in terms of target calculation and adjustment.

Overview 

So far, this ODI series has had two very different matches.

First up was the quintessential modern-day ODI, with a mammoth score which the opposition might have been able to win with were it not for a freakish catch and some downright foolish batting.

Then came the old-school ODI. Played on a sluggish pitch, a modest target could have caused some problems for the side chasing had their ability to finish not been so calm. In both, England came out on top.

For much of England’s visit to their shores, South Africa have been left wondering. They have been out-thought, out-played and out-scored. The Proteas are in desperate need of winning back some public confidence, and they have just one match to do it in if they have any hope of staying alive in this series.

South Africa's one-day record at Centurion is modest with 21 wins in 31 ODIs. They have lost the last two matches they have played there—against the West Indies and New Zealand—so it will take something truly special here on Tuesday to get back into this series.

Central to their game plan might be adding a fifth bowler to the squad. For the last few months, South Africa have relied on part-timers to make up their 50 overs, but against a dynamic batting line-up such as England’s, it has proved to be costly.

Geoffrey Boycott even went so far as to tell BBC’s Test Match Special that JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien won’t even give him "a good net,” and he “might as well ask somebody from the crowd to bowl at him.”

South Africa, thus, might be tempted to drop one of their part-timers and bring in Chris Morris, who showed some promise in the Test series. Most recently, he scored an unbeaten 45 while also taking three for 30 for his franchise in the domestic one-day competition.

While South Africa’s franchise system has copped some criticism recently, it’s all they’ve got to go by at the moment and when the going gets tough, you have to roll the dice.

Key players

South Africa

In the Test series, AB de Villiers struggled for form and he has been out to two completely astounding catches in the ODIs. If you believe in the law of averages, it's about time for a De Villiers special and with South Africa's backs against the wall, there is no better time for their skipper to pull off something astonishing.

England

Alex Hales has been England's most consistent player in the ODIs. He leads the run-scoring with 156 and has notched up consecutive fifties in the first two games. His contribution at the top of the order is invaluable to helping England's big hitters have a platform to launch from.

Squads

England: Joe Root, Alex Hales, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, JonnyBairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Reece Topley, David Willey, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett

South Africa: Hashim Amla, David Miller, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Rilee Rossouw,Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris, Marchant de Lange, David Wiese

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.